update

Well, since Phil lost his job life has been kinda crazy. Homeschooling was very chaotic since our schedule was out of whack. We finally got that in order just to have the pregnancy get harder and me not be able to do much of anything. Phil wasn't able to get much done cause he had his hands full learning how to handle two kids and a house. It's definately not what he's been used to doing...We both felt bad not getting much school done, but Makenzie has done a little here and there. She's only got 2 1/2 pages left to complete in her kindergarten book and is over 1/3 of the way done with her 1st grade math book. Since she's had more unstructured time her reading has taken off all of a sudden. She's not great by any means, but she's definately starting to get it. When we read an easy reader she's able to read some of the words. She's also sounding out words much better (when she wants to). Since we are done with kindergarten then the rest of the year is gonna be spent on reading. We're going to add some history and science as well but our main focus will be getting a solid foundation in reading.

Nick's progression has been fairly good as well. He can sing almost the entire alphabet now. He's always missed a bunch of letters and now he's only missing a couple. He'll write letters sometimes but he doesn't really do it on purpose. He'll be drawing and then say "look I made a ___" Somewhere in his brain he's trying to put on paper what he's learning but can't do it when asked. I still think that's showing progress though.

Well, We had Nick's 3rd birthday party on November 6th. We had Mimi & Papaw, the Smith family, and the Whitesel family over. All of us adults were really tired and the kids for some reason went in the bedrooms, shut the doors and played quietly. It was so wierd, but the kids had a blast and us parents got to relax. It was a good time for everyone I think. Jan made Nick's for us this year. It was the first time I have not made their cake. I was somewhat sad about that but with the way things had been going for me, cake making just wasn't gonna be a good thing. I'd been so scatter brained that I was forgetting ingredients, forgetting things in the oven, ect. I just couldn't keep track of anything it seemed like. I barely got the party prepared due to being so tired, so I was very thankful that Jan made his cake. He had asked for spiderman. She made an awesome cake with buildings, a web, and spiderman. It was so cool that Nick didn't want to cut it. He was just content to sit and stare at it. About 90min into his party we finally told him that it was time to cut it. He still didn't want to but after taking his picture with it he allowed it to be cut. The cake was definately the highlight of his party for him. He got lots of spiderman presents, a cd player, pretend guitar, and other presents as well.

On Nick's actual birthday the next Tuesday we went to the Y for gym & swim. After that Phil, Nick and Keith went to chinese for lunch and then to do some guy stuff (work on scrap metal I think). Makenzie and I went to Rally's for lunch. It was unseasonably warm so we sat at the picnic table and ate. It was a great mother daughter time. We rarely get those times so it was special to me. Then we headed to my doctor appt. We found out I had high blood pressure and I was put on bedrest for the rest of the day. Bedrest on your kids' birthday isn't a good thing. We had planned to go to chuck-e-cheese or monkey joe's that evening. Instead, we had the Whitesel's over, ordered pizza and we all watched Toy Story 3 which we had got Nick for his birthday. It was a good evening, but I definately didn't get as much rest as the doctor wanted.

Football...

Makenzie while watching football "Mom, I always thought they wore hangers in their shirts, but I can see that under the white shirts there is actually something else holding them up." Had to explain about pads and how they are similiar to her elbow & knee pads she wears while riding a bike.

kid quotes of the week

Yesterday - Bedtime wasn't going good. Finally Nick at least was staying in his room playing with trucks so we just left him alone. We were watching tv and heard the door open. Phil said "You better get back in your room." Nick said "I am in my room! But my head is not and neither is my face."

Also yesterday - Makenzie was throwing a fit cause she wanted to go drop something off at a friend's with me. She'd been a pain the 2hrs prior so I just wanted a break. Told her to stay home with daddy. After arguing for a few minutes she spouts off with "It's not fair that Makayla gets to go and I don't!!" I didn't laugh at the time, but did later. I was just thinking...Really?! She's so desperate that she's gotta complain about a baby that's not even born yet?! wow...

oh man...there was one more great one from this week and now I can't remember what it was. Maybe I'll remember later.

October 22nd

Well, haven't written too much on here lately... need to play catch up, but first here's the quote of the day...
Nick's supposed to be in bed or at least in his room. We hear him open the door to come out. Phil says "You better get back in your room." Nick says "I am in my room! But my head is not and neither is my face." I had to cover my mouth so I wouldn't laugh out loud. It was too funny!!

Well, Phil lost his job a little over 2wks ago. It totally wasn't expected, however we feel okay about it so far. We feel like God is in control here and it will all be fine. We found out that we lost insurance the same day as he lost his job, so with a baby due in a few weeks that is somewhat concerning. We applied for state assistance immediately as well as unemployment. Hopefully that will all be accepted and we'll be okay. In the mean time we are enjoying having Phil home. He's really helped me to get this house in shape and ready for a baby. He's spending lots of time with the kids. We are all enjoying our time together!!! Just waiting to see where God takes us from here.

men & kids

This is copied off of my facebook page...don't know why it's coming through looking so wierd...

Megan Wiley-Rowe Ready for quiet time. Don't know how many times I reminded my 3 kids that we don't throw in the house. And yes, I'm including the big one in that count :)


Lori Benner Bauer LOL!! 3 hours ago ·

Megan Wiley-Rowe Lori, I about lost it right before bedtime. Nick threw something and right as I started to remind him about no throwing a little yellow ball comes flying out of the kitchen and hits him on the back. Guess who threw it...Couple min later here comes Makenzie throwing something. I called all three to stand in front of me and tell me the house rules. You should have seen the look on Phil's face! Sometimes I think guys just have kids so they can act like one themselves in their spare time. 2 hours ago ·

Megan Wiley-Rowe Just talked to Phil about this earlier incident and this is what he had to say when I told him my version..."NO! I hit him in the back of the head with the ball. It was totally worth it! Nick thought it was hilarious too!"
Do men ever grow ...up?!?! Who keeps life more interesting, kids or husbands? Never really thought he could keep up with them, but yet he's never been home all the time either. This being unemployed thing is definately a great adventure for right now. lol.See More
2 seconds ago · LikeUnlike.

venting

This isn't written like normal cause I posted this in a homeschooling thread and then just copied it here...

Last week didn't go well due to my son trying to transition to no naps. It was awful. Then on Wednesday my husband lost his job. Our weekends had been Thurs-Sat so we didn't do school the rest of the week. Yesterday I asked hubby to keep our son occupied with school activities while I helped our daughter. He didn't do this at all. Today, same thing. He tried working with DD and just got frustrated. He started threatening to send her to school. Then when I was trying to work with her she started refusing to do anything and would walk away. Once again he starts threatening PS. I tried talking to him about how he shouldn't mention that and he just said "well, her friends go to school so she should too" UGH! That made me SO mad!!! I have felt called to homeschool her since she was like 3 and it's been going great. I feel like he's setting me up for failure. He wasn't homeschooled and doesn't know any homeschoolers so he just doesn't get it...I think when he realized how hurt and upset I was he felt bad. He's gone now and is hoping that I can do work with her while he's gone. Unfortunately I now have to undo all the last weeks damage and it's not gonna be a simple task. She wants to go to school so I think his threatening just made her think that if she keeps this up then she'll get to go to school.

Anyways, I feel like I'm rambling, but I just needed to get this out.

Talk with the kids tonight

Well, our conversation was very enlightening. After 30min of listening it finally came out that she doesn't want a baby. She isn't worried about me having time for 3 kids since I'm home all day and knows I can make time for each one. It's daddy she's worried about. She's concerned that she's gonna lose her daddy time cause he only has enough legs for the two little ones to climb on and that they will take all her wrestling time away. Guess it's time to get back in the habit of having daddy/daughter dates. We used to be really good at that but it's kinda gotten away from us lately. So glad we had our talk and that I now have a direction to go in solving this problem. The last couple weeks have felt like one big downward spiral with her which ultimately brings down Nick's attitude & behavior as well. Hoping that some quality time & talks can turn this situation around fairly quickly!

changes

The last couple weeks Makenzie has been regressing. She doesn't want to do school work, has peed her pants twice, pooped her pants once, isn't sleeping well, and has a major attitude. Everyone is telling me it's probably cause of the baby. She handled the transition of having Nick very well and is very excited about this baby. However, I do agree that this issue is probably due to the new baby coming in a few weeks. Today I told the kids that they have one hour to get their attitudes straightened up and clean their rooms and then I'm going in with trash bags. I feel awful going back on my word cause I know that they need to take me seriously. However, their attitudes are much better. I feel bad enforcing them to clean their room while during that hour I didn't even finish a small corner in mine. Our rooms have been neglected for a long time and none of them are simple to clean at this point. I think that instead we are going to go out for dinner at a drive-thru and then have a talk while in the car. Maybe a talk about the new baby and how it will affect them will help.

Homeschooling/Father & Sis in-law/ect...

Okay, I have found out over the last couple days that we are going to have a very "relaxing" December....lol....My father in-law & his girlfriend are coming here around the 5th and will stay for 8 or 10 days I think. They are coming after Phil has to return to work so that they will be here to help me with the kids and my recovery. Debbie (Martin's girlfriend) has grandchildren and has helped her kids, so I'm sure she'll know what to do and be a help. If it were Martin alone I'd totally be stressing. Martin with a 3yr old still potty training is just a funny thought all in itself!!! Not to mention all the other things that go along with a 3 & 5yr old. Then when we take them to the airport we'll be picking up Julianne who will stay for 4 or 5 days. If you know Julianne, you know this will be my most stressful time. She knows nothing about kids and hates cleaning. Martin has made her fully aware that he's sending her out to HELP not visit per say. LOL. We'll see how that goes. The thought of Julianne wiping a butt has me cracking up. I think Makenzie will be doing alot of work that week if I'm not up to par yet.



Okay, so here's where my thoughts are going tonight... I can't stop laughing at myself...Martin & Julianne are both highly against us homeschooling cause they think our kids are sheltered. Martin wants to take them to museums every day and do fun things with them to get them out of the house...Well, ya know, our poor SHELTERED children may not notice that he's taking them away from their church on Sunday, Gym & Swim on Tuesday, Music class on Wednesday, and Gym & Swim again on Thursday...I'm thinking that maybe Grandpa would love to take them to these activities and see how our normal life is!!! It would be great for him!! Then maybe Auntie can accompany me while I take them the next week.... Of course we can't forget that they also must do at least 15-20 pages of homework a day as well :) Oh, and maybe throw in some crafts also! hehehe.



I don't know for sure but I'm thinking that Julianne should be leaving somewhere around the 20th. That means I'll probably have a whole 2-4 days before more family arrives! Good thing is we won't have time to mess up the house!!! Just hope that really is true and I can keep things under control so that my cousin doesn't come in and feel the need to rescue me. Kids are really gonna have to keep up as well cause with a crawling baby in the house we can't have little things around. It will be great practice for them!! Instead of stressing, I'm kinda looking forward to all this chaos. It's gonna definately keep things interesting!!

Just not feeling it today.

I feel like my life is just one big circle that goes round and round with nothing ever changing. Of course it does and that's not a realistic view, but it's the best I can come up with right now. I am really happy about getting to know Jan better and hanging out with them, but I always have the kids with me. Seems like everyone else gets a break from their kids except me. I love my kids to death but sometimes a little "me" time would be nice. No one ever offers to take me out or to take the kids for me. I feel like the only way for me to get a break is to throw a huge fit and force Phil to let me out. I rarely get me time, but when I do it's never long enough. I think I maybe get 3hrs every 2-3 months. That's not much. I see many mom's who get more than that at least once a week...Plus, why is it that other husband's take initive to take their wives out, but yet mine doesn't even attempt. When he does, I have to make all the arrangments for a babysitter. It's so frustrating. I know I sound like a huge baby right now, but I don't really care. I feel like no one cares about making me feel good. Seems like I'm just here to teach the kids, clean up after them, ect. Not feeling appreciated gets old after awhile. For once it would be nice for someone to appreciate what I do and reward me for it. I don't get a paycheck or a bonus for doing my job. Sometimes I get a hug, or kiss. I love those things, but it would also be nice to feel like I have a value in life outside of these four walls.

August 31st

Didn't post yesterday but wanted to comment on it.

Yesterday in the morning we got straight to work. There were a few pages left over from the day before since I had been pretty sick. We got everything done except 3 pages. Then we went to go meet Clifford the Big Red Dog. We met Raeann there and the kids had a blast. After that we played at the park where the even was and then went to McDonalds to eat and play some more. Raeann didn't go with us there but the kids still had a good time. After that we went grocery shopping. Usually that is a nightmare. This time it wasn't!! The kids were awesome! I was in shock. When we got in the car Makenzie said she had a fun time at the store. I made sure to really praise their behavior and let them know that they had more fun because I wasn't having to correct or yell at them. Told them that I would love for every shopping trip to go like that.

Once we were home Makenzie did some more homework. Makenzie is working in her 1st grade math book now. Although she wants to jump to addition we are making her work from beginning to end since the book gets harder as you go along. There were some pretty tricky patterns that she had to do. I thought she would get frustrated or confused. Boy she proved me wrong! She flew right through them and didn't make a single mistake.

interesting day

Well, this morning was a rush like always to get ready and to church on time. After that we went to lunch with Mom & Rick. They got there extremely late and so we started eating before them. Once they were there we were up and down getting the kids food since we were at a buffet. Phil left for work and finally a few minutes later the rest of us were at the table together and the kids were eating quietly. We talked for a couple min and then my mom told me that her and Rick are getting married! It was pretty funny cause she started with "On a brighter note" and in my head I said "you and rick are getting married?" So when she said it I almost bust up laughing. All I really said was that Phil and I had been predicting a wedding before Christmas. Then we asked the kids if they wanted Rick to be their new grandpa and call him Papaw Rick. Makenzie said "sure." Nick just looked at him like "aren't you already my gpa?" It was funny cause it didn't faze either one of them. They both really like Rick alot.

Since both Heidi and Michael are currently out of the country my mom has to e-mail them to tell them. We're hoping that if she does that tonight then they will find out from her and not through someone else. I guess word at their church already got out and they weren't very happy about it. They met with the pastor to ask his blessing and to marry them. They made it clear that they wanted it to be kept quiet till they told their kids. I guess he told his wife and she told like 8 people at a chior thing. Mom was in another room and went to turn around and tell a friend and the friend said "So, I think someone let the cat out of the bag for you." Mom wasn't very happy! I think that's why they were late today, cause mom said that there were alot of people who wanted to talk to her. lol. At least I heard it from her and not through the grapevine! I'm friends with two people who go to her church.

I guess the plan is to get married in the church office for now. Once Heidi and Michael are back in the country they will have a bigger ceremony with a dinner and stuff at the church. I'm glad about that. We really like him and would like to have the kids involved in the ceremony. I totally understand waiting till the others are back though, and I think that will make them really happy as well. They are both skeptical since they've never met him.



Homeschooling was CRAZY tonight!!! The kids were at the kitchen table shouting "shout it out, GOD IS GOOOODDD!!!!!" over and over. I love to hear them saying things like that but shouting it at the top of their lungs was driving me nuts. They did this off and on for about 90 minutes!!! It was a very trying/stressful time but we finally got today's homework done....Today on two of the pages that needed coloring Makenzie used a white crayon. I had to write down on the page that I watched her and knew she did actually color the correct things. You couldn't see it at all, even if you held it at a angle to the light.

Life in general

As usual I haven't been on here too much lately. I know I always say I'm gonna attempt getting on here more, but then never do. Although I don't legally need to keep track of the kids' homeschooling till age seven I'm trying to get into a routine of keeping track. I think this blog is going to be a part of that. Most homeschooling blogs I have seen only post the good/great days. I'd really like to get in a habit of journaling every day I possibly can. I spend an hour on facebook, so why can't I do even 10min on here?! I really need to get my priorities straight on that one since it's really important for me to document my kids' lives for them to read later on...

Well, in the last week I think Makenzie has done about 100 pages in her Kindergarten workbook. She's over half way done now. There is a total of 453 pages. There are so many pages that want her to color things. She hates it. It is so mundane and time consuming to color everything they want. I hate making her do it too, but I've told her that there are two main things I want her to learn in Kindergarten. The first one is: Follow directions, even if you don't see a point to them. Second one is: Try your best at everything you do...This book has her coloring so much that she thought the #1 thing they want her to learn is to color in the lines. Thank goodness she's flying through that book, cause we are both sick of forcing her to color everything. Phil makes her do it perfectly, but sometimes I could care less. I'm trying to limit her to 5 coloring pages a day, but when it has to do with math or writing, it's hard to do! She's almost done with the math, art, and thinking skills chapters. After that she'll only have left the reading readiness. There is still a good amount of coloring in that section, but at least she'll be done with everything else. It will probably still take her a couple months to finish the reading chapter. It's over 200 pages! I'm glad about that though. I really want her to have a firm foundation in the reading basics. She's beyond some of it though so we're also using sight word flash cards to play games. I have the 1st grade math & writing books so we'll be ready for those as soon as she is. We are probably going to start the math one soon. She's totally ready for it!!

Nick is really getting some fine motor skills since we started "school". At first his scribbles were all over. Now he can do smaller scribbles, is attempting some shapes, and can write a one. He's so proud of that, even though to everyone else it's just a simple line. But hey, it's a straight, in control line, so that's great. He won't even attempt letters yet. We are working on number, alphabet, and shape flash cards though. He loves the game we play with them which is also the same for Makenzie. If they give me the correct answer, then they get to keep the card. They love to try and get more and more each time.

Nick has also recently learned to pedel his bike on his own. We rarely have to give him a push now. He is so proud of himself. Today he rode past me and said "Look Mama! I'm getting lots of exercise!" It was so cute. I went and got the video camera so I could record him and sure enough, he said it again and I got it on video.

Don't know if I wrote this down or not before...Makenzie learned late last summer how to ride without training wheels. This summer we had to buy her a bigger bike (which was perfect cause Nick was ready for the one she was using). I thought the transition would throw off her balance, but she's been riding it perfect since the first day. She's an awesome rider.

Homeschooling

Been doing a "school" schedule for about a month now. It's not perfect but is going pretty good. Both kids are progressing alot. I'll write more about that another day, but for now I just had a conversation I wanted to write down...

Today Makenzie and I were watching an episode of "18 kids and counting" on homeschooling. In the episode the Duggar family visited a public school to read to kids. When Makenzie saw how many kids were in a class she was appalled. She said "Mom, that would take at least 11 or 12 teachers to teach all those kids!!" I said "Well, they only have one, sometimes two." She said "There is no way you can teach those kids what they need to know with only a couple teachers."

Since Makenzie has been asking to go to public school with her friends, I then asked her if she would want to go to a class that large and sit at the desks like they do. She said "Mom, I would never learn anything that way with only one teacher. I do not want to go to school." That made me feel so good, and reassured me that I am doing what God wants us to do.

oh, and while I'm getting my frustrations out.....asking a pregnant person if she is bipolar is NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!!!!

AH!!!! Some people! This happened over a week ago and I'm still really mad/hurt about it.

hurt

Ya know, the baby shower thing has reminded me of my other frustration surrounding Nick's birth....I was in EXTREME pain after having him. Due to a star tear and injured/cracked tailbone, I could barely walk or sit. People knew this because it's not something I tried to hide at all when they came to visit. I even carried a donut around to sit on and when that broke, sat on the boppy pillow everywhere, including the car. Yet to my astonishment, not a single person offered to take Makenzie, clean the house, cook us meals, or anything of that sort. All people did was come over, see the new baby and leave. Never have I felt so uncared for in my life. I did finally get 3 meals made, but only after 2 or 3wks when I broke down to Sarah on the phone. She cooked 3 meals that day and sent Jonathan over with them. I felt like she did it out of pity for me, not because she wanted to...I swore to myself that the next time someone was in need that I wouldn't be bending over backwards like I always have to babysit, make meals, and things of that sort. But sure enough, next time someone was sick or in need, there I was meals in hand and offering to babysit for them. Completely ignoring the fact that I was still recovering from a injured tailbone (took an entire 12 months to recover)...I don't do these things to get payment out of them. It does make me happy to help people and I feel that God puts people in your life to help and for them to help you. It's just part of what makes the world go round. We all need each other... It's just very hard to be surrounded by people who "love" you but yet don't bother to see that you are in need. Especially really hard when in the situation I was with a 2 1/2yr old. I still had to do dishes, laundry and cook every day from the day Phil had to return to work. I think it was 4 days after delivery.

This is the first time that I've been scared of delivery. My tailbone is already hurting from the previous injury. My hip and pelvic bone hurt as well. I now have a 5yr old and at delivery time a 3yr old. Since we now live where we only have one family member, how on earth am I gonna do this? The good thing is though...I won't be expecting help and therefore won't have the heartbreak of realizing that I'm not getting it.

baby shower

Today Makenzie said that she wants to have a baby shower for her new baby she bought at a garage sale. I asked where she learned about baby showers. She said from tv. Then she said that she wants to have a shower for her baby and then my new baby...No one bothered to throw one for Nick, so how am I to know if I will get one for Makayla? Especially since we barely have any family out here. I didn't even get one when we had tons of family around!!! All I got told was "I don't have time to plan." "You shouldn't need gifts since you had a kid a couple years ago" and other things along those lines. I don't think anyone truly understands how awful it made me feel that no one celebrated the birth of my son, and that he has 4 empty pages in his baby book because of it. If someone does throw me a shower for Makayla then I won't have to go through the agony of leaving her pages blank. However years down the line I will be faced with the question of "Why were the girls thrown baby showers but I wasn't?" It breaks my heart to even think about it. He is such a special little boy and his birth should have been celebrated with a party just like everyone else. I wish I could go back in time and throw a party of my own. However, I know that I was not in any sort of state to do that since it took me so long to recover from the tearing and tail bone injury I endured while in labor with him.

Sweet words from Makenzie

The other day I noticed that Makenzie had stolen one of my pillows. When we went to go watch a movie in the pool room I asked her to get it so that I could lay on the floor. She got it, then explained why she took it. Here's what she said:

"I woke up one night and was sad. I know you don't like me sleeping with you so I went in your room and stole your pillow. I laid with your pillow in my bed. It smells like you and is soft like you. When I hug it, it's like I can feel you hugging me back and your love all around me."

How's that to melt a Momma's heart?!

What's funny though is that this was the only night she didn't come to our room, or so we thought. She sleeps with us at least a little bit EVERY night. The thing is; she sleep walks and doesn't remember it.

I really need to get in the habit of at least writing 5min a day on here...

today was a pretty annoying, frustrating, funny and relaxing day all rolled into one. I was gonna copy and paste from facebook to here, but it won't let me. Guess I should write things here first and then copy it to facebook. It's too late to re-type it all!

Just so it can jog my memory later to tell the kids or Phil....it has to do with taking Nick to the bathroom at Walmart and him insisting on using the "nal" in other words, the urinal. lol.

funny messy kids

Yesterday I bought a new thing of sugar. This morning I poured it into the sugar container. Nick must have seen me do it. I was on the computer and as far as I was concerned he was watching cartoons. The sugar container was just about 10ft behind me and I never heard him get it. He poured it on the carpet in the livingroom and played in it like it was a sandbox. He came to me to tell me something and I saw sugar in his hair. When asked how that happened he took me to the mess and jumped in it. So hard to discipline a kid when you are trying not to laugh!! I grabbed the camera and he posed in front of his mess. Then he vaccuumed for about 30min. It was SO funny!!

When Makenzie was almost 3yrs old she did something similiar. She took powdered sugar and poured it on the kitchen floor. When I tried to mop it up it turned into a sticky frosting mess. It was a BAD idea! This was also VERY funny and I video taped it. I would have taken a movie of today as well but the video camera is in the car.

not a good day

Today has been awful. My hip and pelvic bone has been hurting all day. It hurts to walk. I am completely exausted and slept all morning. Of course the kids took advantage and trashed the pool room. They woke Phil up cause they were nailing something into the wall. He of course was ticked at them and at me for sleeping. I couldn't help it though. I could not stay awake. I am not sleeping good anywhere except the couch. I hit the couch and I am out. Since Phil went to work the kids have done everything bad they can possibly think of it seems like. Asked them to clean the pool room and Makenzie refused to do a single thing. She just stands there and tells Nick what to do. Asked her to clean her room, and same thing. Of course she offered to clean Nick's room and did a wonderful job at that. Then she expected us to let her off with not cleaning her own room. I think not. All day long she has done something other than what we tell her to do and then thinks that since she did something else good that we will not make her do what we have told her to do. Her drawing all over her brother was my last straw. I am so ticked!! However, I will admit that her writing has improved cause NICK was very clear on his shoulder. I took pictures so we can laugh about it later. She's still in huge trouble though. I told her she is in her room for the rest of the night. She's gonna be lucky to get a real dinner. I may just give her toast and milk. My mom is coming to babysit so I can do some shopping though so I don't know if she will let her out or not.

ugh.

craving citrus, fruits and veggies does not help my heartburn at all!! I hate heartburn. at least in 5 months it will all be over with and I'll have my gift for enduring this heartburn.

6/25/2010

Once again it's been awhile since I've written. To be honest, I just haven't felt like writing much. Sorry!

Well, first I guess I should say that we found out a week ago that we are having another girl. It wasn't a shock to me as I have "known" that all along. Was nice to have confirmation though. We have decided to name her Makayla. Still working on a middle name. May possibly be Sharon after Phil's mom who passed away last summer.

Nick and Makenzie have been VERY trying lately and making me exausted. Nick of course is into the terrible two's and Makenzie has developed a HUGE attitude. We are working on both of these things. However, my nausea is back in full force and so I have pratically no patience. Not good when trying to teach the kids to be calm and respectful.

Makenzie had a wonderful 5th birthday!! We went go-carting and bowling on her actual day. At first she was scared of the noise under the go-cart garage. She finally got on with me and we did one session. After that my stomach muscles were killing me. I hadn't planned on going at all, but did just so Makenzie would go. After that she drove the kid sized one. She LOVED it!!! The next day was her party. I think we had 11 kids, not including our two. It was a great time for everyone.

Ever since go-carting and Nick finding out that he wasn't tall enough to drive; he walks around saying "I taller!!" Of course he stands on his tip toes when he says this. We've now told him that he has to be older as well. He's very into height though. He wants to say who is taller than him, and if he stands on a chair he'll say "I taller than Moey". Oh yeah, and now he calls Makenzie Moey, not Mo. It's really cute!

Makenzie does funny things all the time, but today was really funny...As we were driving by the cemetary she asked if we could go visit that pretty place. I asked what she thought was so pretty and she said the flowers and big rocks. Said she's never seen rocks that big except for there. Phil asked if she knew what that place was and her response was "Yeah, it's where they put the dead people." We found it so funny that she knows what goes there and it doesn't bother her. I guess we have given her a good grasp on reality and death. It's just a fact of life to her.

been awhile...

Well, I haven't written on here in awhile. Part of the reason is cause while Michael was home from Germany, I was pretty busy spending time with him. The other reason is cause I was too upset to write...

While we were in Michigan (which was supposed to be a fun vacation), I had a horrible time. The first night I was supposed to spend the evening with my cousin and others hanging out at the house. That had been the plan for 2wks, but she just up and ditched me. Even though Phil and Michael were supposed to have a guys night out, then inviten Nick and I to come along. We had a great time, especially since it was Nick's first time bowling. He picked up that 8lb ball probably 50 times!

The next day started out good with Alex and I running an errand. Then Phil, mom, michael and I went to the seed store. The evening went very quickly downhill. Dinner wasn't served till 6:20 which is VERY late for my kids. Especially when they hadn't snacked in a few hours. Nick was a complete basket case by the time dinner was on the table. I ended up skipping dinner and taking him out, but he fell asleep right after getting in the car. By the time he was fed and ready to go back into the house, EVERYONE was walking out to get in cars. Within about 45seconds Nick watched everyone, including Phil and Makenzie leave to go bowling. Nick was screaming, and I was crying. I spent a long time trying to get him to bed, and finally ended up driving him around. Once he was asleep, I got him to bed, and laid in bed crying for hours. I wanted to go home so bad!!! It actually crossed my mind to pack up and tell Phil to ride home with my mom the next day. Of course I didn't do that though. After a few hours Phil called. I asked him to bring me dinner. Once he got back, he came up without dinner and said that if I wanted to eat then I needed to go downstairs and socialize while eating. He said that people had been downstairs waiting for me for a couple hours. He didn't understand that I felt like if they wanted to see me, then they would have come up and asked if I wanted to hang out. He basically forced me to come down. I did, but only because I knew that completely not eating wasn't healthy for the baby.

Once downstairs, it was okay till Cassie & Andrew left. Then my mom and Uncle totally attacked me. They were telling me that someone e-mailed them to say that people have a horrible view of Heidi, Alex, and I due to my negativity, gossip and slandering all over facebook. They said that I need to get a life, get off facebook, ect, ect, ect...Some of what they said is a blur, cause they were just going non-stop. I didn't get a chance to say anything really. Michael tried to step in, but since he'd had a few beers, he was told that he was drunk and delidgerant and to go outside. I've seen my brother drunk, and he wasn't drunk at all. Not even tipsy. He has a very high tollerance. He did leave, but only cause he knew that if he didn't then he was probably going to punch something. I knew that's why he left, cause his face was bright red from anger. After he left the lecturing got worse. Fingers were shaken in front of my face, and I was told that I need to get on my knees and pray instead of going on facebook. Then to top it all off my mom started saying that this is part of the reason I have a bad relationship with my sister. That was the end for me. I asked if Heidi had e-mailed her, and when she said no, then I said she has no right to judge my relationship with my sister at all. I ran out of the room bawling. I was devestated by everything. About 20min later my uncle came up to our room and tried to talk to me. He still didn't understand much about my life, or what goes on with Heidi, Alex, and I, but at least he tried for a few minutes. My mom was sorry for how she talked to me, but I don't think she realized how hurt I was. Between talking to Phil and Michael, I was up until 4:30 that morning. I was just too horribly upset to sleep.

On top of that going on, there was also family drama in Oregon. I guess someone said something in a fight that "I" told them. Problem was, I never said it, and didn't even know about what they said I told them. Phil and I both felt though that there was no point in defending me because that person doesn't like me anyways, and therefore wouldn't believe us. Just made Phil feel even more like his family is torn apart. He said that's part of the reason he didn't defend me to my mom and uncle is cause he's too afraid of losing my family as well.

Well, a couple days after coming back from Michigan I deleted about 80 people off my friends list, and made it so very few people can see my profile. I'm sure this made people mad, but at this time I don't know who I can or can't trust. I don't feel like I have very many true friends anymore. That is a really crappy feeling.

Phil did find out that his family member isn't mad anymore, so I feel slightly better about that, but not really over it. It's frustrating to feel like I can't ever talk to someone cause it will just come back to bite me in the butt.

dr's appt & makenzie's funny question

Well today was my dr's appt. I am 12wks and 6 days. I weighted in at 238 just like last time! So glad that I didn't gain any weight at all after gaining 30lb in the first couple months. I was really worried about that, but on the other hand I was hoping it wouldn't be much of a gain cause I don't look any bigger. I was very pleased with that. The baby's heartbeat was 146, and it was moving around alot. We kept hearing it on the doppler. The doc was so pleased with everything that I don't have to go in for 5wks. At that appt we will have an ultrasound.

Forgot to write this down the other day...Makenzie said "Mom, I bet Spanish people eat REALLY wierd things." I said "like what?" She said "I don't know, but I bet they eat really wierd stuff that we would never eat." I said "Well, they eat tacos, encheladas, and quesidillas like we do." She said "Ohh, nevermind then." I had a very hard time not laughing!!

Birthday Dinner w/mom

Well, this evening my mom took me to Olive Garden for my birthday dinner (actual birthday is tomorrow). I talked to the kids quite alot about behavior and making messes the hour before going out. They both were in a great mood and were doing really well in the beginning. Mom and I both pulled out our phones and let them watch Mickey Mouse while waiting for food, so that helped alot. Then while I was enjoying my salad Makenzie came to sit on my lap for a minute. She got into one of her dry coughing fits which resulted in her throwing up on herself and me. I took her to the bathroom and instructed her to stay by the toilet while I cleaned up myself. Next thing I know she comes out. I start to tell her to get back to the toilet and she leans over the sink and continues to throw up all her drink and breadsticks. After sending her back to the toilet I start on cleaning up the new mess. After about ten minutes her and I are finally clean, bathroom is clean, and we head back to the table. Rest of dinner went great. After paying, mom and I were still talking and kids got restless. We go outside and sit on the benches to finish our conversation. My mom was holding Nick, and without any warning at all he projectile vomits all over my mom's foot and the entry way to the restruant. I run inside to ask them to come get it cleaned up and for a napkin to clean up my mom and Nick. Of course it's still dinner time and there are people coming in/out and looking at the HUGE mess in front of the door. I felt awful for leaving that mess for the workers, but there was nothing I could do. Thank goodness there weren't any more issues before we made it home (or since for that matter). Been home about 30min now, and both kids have been bathed and are going to bed soon...Since Nick threw up tonight for no apparent reason, he'll be skipping swim class in the morning which he won't be happy about but I'm not gonna risk it. I have a dr's appt in the morning and am not taking the kids. I have a feeling that is going to be the best part of my birthday since Phil has to head to work practically right after I get back.

Mother's day post

Well, today is Mother's Day. Although I didn't get pampered like alot of mom's do, it was still a good day. We went to church, then to my mom's for an hour, then to McD's to play with Haleigh and Gabby. I had a great time hanging out with Scott & April. After that I took the kids to the library and then home. We relaxed and did whatever the rest of the evening and the kids both went to bed at nine. Now I get to enjoy some quiet time and in the morning Raeann is bringing the kids over.

Yesterday it wasn't planned for me to have a mock Mother's day, but that's what it turned out to be. On Friday night I didn't get much sleep and then had to be up at 5am to take Liz and Lilly to the airport. I was exausted by the time I got home. The kids told me that Phil was going to take them to the store to get mother's day gifts for me and my mom. I requested that instead of shopping that they just let me sleep the day away. I never imagined that would work, but it did! I slept till around noon, attempted getting up, just to sleep on the couch till late afternoon. Then we went to Red Robin for my birthday burger and then to a second hand store for some more maternity clothes. I loved that store and will probably do alot more shopping there now that I know about it. They had a better selection of maternity stuff than the regular stores. Plus of course, much better prices! The nice thing is that this store is really picky about what they take, so no matter what the price, you can be sure you are getting an item that isn't stained or ripped. It was nice not to have to look in detail at the items before buying. I got 3 or 4 shirts for myself, one for Nick, two for Mo, and a pair of jean shorts for myself all for $29.43! That was one heck of a deal!!!

Well, the visit with Liz and Lilly went great. I think towards the end they were ready to go home, and my kids were ready to have life back to normal, but that's typical of any visit with anyone. Now we have this week as a break and then Michael arrives. Hoping to get some laundry caught up in the mean time. At least he stays with my mom though, so life here isn't disrupted. I doubt the kids could handle having company 3wks out of 4! I'm really hoping the visit with him goes as well as it did in January. The kids enjoyed him so much more this last time cause he played with them so much. I'm really looking forward to having him here!

VENTING!!!!

I haven't been on here in awhile cause I've been trying to get my life back in order. Neinty percent of my nausea and tiredness is gone. I've been trying to get my house back in order, which is not an easy task at all...Anyways, that's what's been going on, and now off to my venting...

In the last 48hrs I've had about 9 hours of sleep, maybe ten including my nap yesterday. There is no way on earth I can happily run on that little sleep. I am so sick of people who say they understand how I feel when they have people who babysit their kids and husbands who let them get rest when they need it. I don't have that luxury!!! Yesterday morning I tried to get Phil up around 9am so that I could go back to bed. Well, he rolled around till almost ten and then there wasn't time for me to nap. This morning after only a few hours of sleep and then being up with Makenzie since 6am I was DONE. I tried to wake him up at 8:40 and of course he didn't get up till around 10 again. Then when he tries to give me a hug he wonders why I am so mad. I don't think he understands how hard it is to run on such little sleep. Yeah I know he needed his sleep since he has to work tonight, but I am 100% exausted. I have not gotten more than 2hrs of sleep at one time in a few days. Sometimes my sleep is broken up in 5-10min intervals. That does not let your body rest at all!! The entire family was shocked that I chose not to attend church this morning. I really did want to go, but I think sleep is going to do more for my soul right now than church will...

Liz and Lilly arrive today as well. They are supposed to be sleeping in Makenzie's room. As of this morning you still couldn't see her floor. I told her to pick up all the clothes and she took them and put them in the walkway in the livingroom. So now I have a whole nother mess to deal with besides doing dishes and vaccuuming. I know Liz doesn't care about the house, but I HAVE to do these things. There is no way I am letting a baby in the house to discover the kids small toys or crumbs. I MUST get these things done. Oh yeah, and somehow my playpen got this huge nasty stain in my mom's basement and so now I have to clean that also. Plus clean out the suburban before going to the airport...And to think I also want to get a nap before going to the airport...how is that possible??? I need to leave home in 3hrs.

This has been quite a day!!!

Well, this morning was okay. Nothing out of the norm. We ate lunch and packed a bag with coloring books and such to entertain the kids during my Dr's appt. Once at the office, Nick wanted nothing to do with the bag of stuff. I let each kid have one piece of candy out of the bowl. Within about 15min time I found out from Makenzie that Nick had actually stolen 3 more. So, while I was filling out paperwork, my 2yr old was running around like a mad man. I had to leave the lobby and chase him down the hall two times, and a third time out the front door of the building. I had already informed the kids that they would be rewarded for good behavior by going out for ice cream afterwards, but he apparently didn't care or understand. I finally got the paperwork done and went back to the room. I was able to keep Nick confined by having Makenzie sit in front of the door so that he couldn't open it. This of course worked till I was half naked and on the table. Then she let him run down the hall. Luckily the exam wasn't started and I had on a knee length dress. I chased him, gave him a firm talk, and told Mo very firmly not to move from the front of the door. Well, this all went fine and dandy till the doctor was actually examine me. Then Makenzie says "I don't want to sit here anymore so he can run if he wants to". The doctor caught him before he got out of the room and politely asked Makenzie to PLEASE sit by the door. Well, about 90 seconds later Makenzie did the exact same thing. I was furious!!!! This time the doctor was like "well, he's stuck back here and all the other patients are gone, so I'll just let the nurses catch him." Well, they did. They took the kids to their back room where they have a TV and let them watch a cartoon, and then also traced hands and stuff like that. Of course I was fuming, and was dead set against the ice cream by the time the appointment was over. But that was all changed when I left the room and went to find them. The nurse brings them out and says "thank you Makenzie and Nick for being so well behaved for me! Now you get to go have your ice cream treat." I was thinking "Gee thanks. I was going to give them the lecture of their life on the way home."

Then we were sent to the lab. I thought it was going to be a major disaster as well, but knew that if no one else was waiting then we would have the TV all to ourselves. Well, we were the only ones, so that was great. Of course until I was in the chair to get my blood drawn. I left the door open to the lobby so I could keep an eye on them, but of course Makenzie wasn't going to sit against the door leading to the hallway. Luckily the person taking my blood was AWESOME! After one escape attempt he called for the kids to come in the room, and then forced them to shut the door. He then described like 10 different character stickers he has and told them that if they keep the door shut then they can have stickers, but if anyone leaves the room then they don't get stickers. Well, it worked. They were perfect little angels. They sat so still. It helped alot that once they were calm he gave them each a job. Nick held empty vials, and Makenzie held the alcohol swabs till he needed them. She helped feel for my vein as well, and then held the tubes after they were filled. Once done, she got 3 Hannah Montana stickers, and Nick got 3 Spiderman ones. They were so happy that they didn't want to leave!!! I had to argue with them to get them to leave the lab!

Then we found a Chic-fil-a that had a play area. They got some ice cream, and I got a salad and lemonade. Which by the way, was the freshest food I have had at a fast food place. It was good!! Well, they played for awhile and then while I was gathering up stuff to leave...Nick took off. I couldn't find him in the restaurant, and then looked out the window. There he was about 20ft down the sidewalk (next to the building) and heading into the parking lot. I very quickly set stuff down and run out there. Of course once he sees me he starts running. I was able to catch him before he was in any real danger, but boy did he get the talking of a lifetime. After taking Mo potty and getting them back in the car I was so stressed out!!!! I couldn't believe how bad the afternoon had gone. I was so glad to see Nick asleep when we got home.

I put Nick in his bed, put on a cartoon for Makenzie and laid down for a nap / de-stress. Well, that lasted about 15min. Then Makenzie came in my room screaming and crying. There was a wasp in the house...This is a long blog already, so use your imagination here...the drama lasted a couple hours until we finally got the thing killed around dinner time.

For dinner I actually felt like I was going to be able to cook without feeling sick. So I made some eggs, pancakes, and homemade berry syrup. Well, the kids refused to eat a single bite. I put too much cornstarch in the syrup and it tasted gross....Rest of the evening was a little milder, but still not great...Just before bedtime I realized that I forgot to put the cornstarch away. Apparently Nick knocked it over. It was a big mess, but I figured I would just vacuum it up. Well, let me just say....Don't vacuum corn starch!!! I is so tiny that it comes back out of the vacuum vents and fills the house with dust. Once I realized that I was so done with this day that I didn't even care. I immediately started on bedtime, am relaxing for a bit and going to bed. I will tackle the kitchen floor and cornstarch mess tomorrow after swimming lessons.

And yes, if you are wondering...Dr's appt went fine. Didn't even attempt to hear heartbeat, but I'm not worried about it cause I've never had a Dr try this early except for ultrasound. Doc says that the ultrasound was so good a couple weeks ago that he isn't concerned at all and thinks I'll carry this pregnancy fine. He was shocked though at my induced labor times with the other two. He says it doesn't make sense because there is plenty of room in my pelvic area for the baby to come down and break my water naturally. He is hoping this one will happen naturally but says that with my past it may not. He hopes that the induction time will at least be greatly reduced.

the things kids say....

Makenzie is so full of it! She says she has to take her baby to the Y because she has tried everything she can think of and her baby still won't stop crying.

Tonight I made a huge double decker egg sandwich w/cheese. Ate about half then thought about how I was eating the raw gooey yolk (normally my favorite part) and then completely lost my appetite. I felt like throwing up the entire thing. Ended up making some cinnamon sugar toast to get the taste out of my mouth and throwing the sandwich away. What a waste!

new stuff

We are planning on this being our last child. Originally we wanted four, but after all my body has gone through with a miscarriage and full term pregnancies we have changed our mind. I am only 2 1/2 months along and already having hip and pelvic pain. Our plan is to save up money and have Phil snipped so we are sure we won't be getting pregnant again.

That being said...Is it bad that I want to have fun and get cutsie stuff for this child? We have to get a new carseat and stroller anyways, so why not have fun with it? We've contemplated finding out the sex and buying the really girly or boyish stuff and just keep it to ourselves till the baby is born. It would be such a hard secret to keep though!! Who knows, maybe we'll just pocket the money and run to the store and get it before leaving the hospital. hmmm....stuff to think about...

Wednesday

Yesterday was an eventful day to say the least! Started out with us going over to Raeann's in the morning. We spent about 3 hours there. The kids all had a blast except for William hitting. He's in that stage really bad. After that we went home and saw Phil for a few minutes before he went to work. After he left I was letting the kids watch a cartoon before taking a nap. About 15min later Makenzie came in and told me Nick was sound asleep. I went into the pool room and he had fallen asleep with his knees on the floor and his head laying on his rocking chair. He was apparently very exausted!
After I put Nick to bed I decided I needed a nap myself since I had been up in the middle of the night with Nick the night before. Makenzie was really into what she was watching on tv so I informed her of what I was doing and she said it was fine and that she would just watch tv. I laid in bed a bit before falling asleep and she never moved, so I thought things would be okay. Well about an hour after I fell asleep I got woke up by Makenzie saying "Mom! I can't turn on the bathtub because I have paint all over my hands!" This is NOT how I imagined being woken up. She had paint tracked through my bathroom. I got her in the bath then went to check out the rest of the mess. She had just painted on a notebook, but she got it all over her small table and on the carpet. This was NOT washable paint, and she is a repeat offender on this particular offense.

Nice day, well mostly.

A friend gave me her left over nausea pills. Took one today and it was wonderful! I was actually up this morning and cleaning the kitchen. Haven't done that in awhile! Course everyone needed my attention so I didn't get it finished, but at least it is started...Phil and the kids were talking non stop this morning. I love talking to them, but when all I ever hear is talking it gets frustrating.

After Phil went to work I decided to take the kids to Sno-Castle for a cheap treat. Well, they are still closed for the season. We ended up at McDonald's. What I thought would be a cheap $3 treat ended up being $12 for food and icecream. Amazing how quickly that multiplied! After that we went to the park. Both kids were throwing a fit the entire drive there cause they wanted to go to a different park. That changed once we got there. Immediately Makenzie spotted two little girls from church. The older sister was SO excited to see Makenzie. They played together the entire time, and even hugged goodbye. It was very cute!

Took the LONG way home because once again Makenzie wouldn't stop talking and Nick was horribly tired. Eventually they both went to sleep. They are still sound asleep in their rooms, and so now that I'm done writing this...I'm gonna enjoy the quiet and take a nap myself!

Joke

Well, we had the ultrasound yesterday. There is one baby and we are 7wks along. My due date is November 18th.

Well...We thought it would be funny to do a late April Fool's Day joke on Heidi & Alex. We told them that they saw a few babies but couldn't get an exact count and so we have to go back next week for another ultrasound. I was doing so good playing it up till I talked to Alex on the phone today. That was SO hard!! I can't play it up any more. Phil wanted me to play it up for about a week, but I'm not that cruel. I'm gonna go ahead and publically anounce it tonight so they will know the truth. Can't wait to see what they say though!!

sick

trying to remind myself that feeling sick is actually a good thing because it means that my horomone levels are high....Wish I could get something accomplished though. Eating without feeling like I'm gonna throw it all back up would be nice too. This morning Makenzie had to make bagels for her & Nick cause I couldn't smell them without almost throwing up. Good thing she's responsible enough to handle that!!

Roadtrip from Indiana to Oregon & Washington

I could write for hours about everything that happened on this trip. However, I'm just gonna write down some things that we learned or key points while on the trip...

1. Trip on the way is MUCH faster than the trip home.
2. Kids were AWESOME on the way there! We were so proud!
3. The way home wasn't as good, but we still made it in 3days with very little arguing, so that was also a success.
4. It's great to be back around babysitters that you know will take care of your kids the way you want them to be taken care of.
5. Sorting through things and packing boxes to go 4 different places is something I never want to do again.
6. Having great friends to help you pack those boxes is priceless!
7. Getting lots of hand-me-downs is a great thing.
8. Don't send kids shoe shopping with others, or at least look over the shoes and take them back if there isn't any growing room.
9. Having special friends and family that are willing to work hours of preparing & cleaning to pull off a potluck so you can see everyone is a wonderful thing.
10. Only having enough time to try and see about 40 people in a 3hr period is something I hate doing. There are always people that get missed, or only spoken to a couple minutes. It's a horrible feeling!
11. Chinese & Teriyaki were eaten as often as possible. Wish we had good places out here to get them...
12. Don't ever try to save on shipping cost with pictures. People never get them passed out. Just spend the extra $20 to ship them to everyone indvidually.
13. Seeing Makenzie play with her friends & cousins is priceless. I love how they all remember each other just like it was yesterday that we lived there.
14. Nick and Parker playing together is so cute. Especially when they hug!
15. Love how my husband can easily go to the Nick Clearance store and find shoes in his size!!
16. Spending time at Grandma & Grandpa Penner's is always relaxing.
17. Makenzie got to go help Grandpa feed & get eggs from the chickens on the farm. She told him to put the eggs back so they could have chicks.
18. Aunt Heidi trying to have a phone conversation without kids means that she gets followed around the yard. Felt bad for her, but it was REALLY cute to watch!!
19. Kids are in shambles anytime Aunt Heidi isn't around, and leaving her was really hard to do.
20. Seeing how grown up my cousins are becoming makes me feel old. It's great though to not feel like there is such a huge age difference. We have alot more to talk about!
21. Funny to hear Matt talk mechanic talk. Seems like not too long ago Phil was showing him how to check and put oil in a car.
22. Phil says Matt is very smart to pretend to be dumb, cause that way he won't be constantly having to fix people's cars like Phil used to have to do.
23. Taking a small child over rough mountains equals lots of screaming.
24. Don't take a trailer over a highway that says "no trailers". You lose LOTS of horsepower at 10,000 feet!!
25. Taking kids to a hotel for the first time ever meant pratically no sleep for mommy. After the excitement wore off they screamed about wanting to go sleep in the car. They finally both crashed around 2am. At least daddy got 12hrs of sleep!
26. The sound of mud tires puts me to sleep. I didn't drive much. Felt useless.
27. You can go 600-800 miles through Wyoming & Nebraska without seeing a play area for kids. When it's too cold to play outside, this is NOT a good thing!!
28. When you see a sign in eastern Wyoming that says "bugerking playland 30minutes ahead" DON'T BELIEVE IT! It closed down over 5 years ago!!! Boy, we sure wanted to go burn down that sign so no other parent goes through what we went through.
29. After awhile, you get sick of any and all restruants and fast food places.
30. No matter how many movies you bring on the trip...the kids will watch the same 5 over and over again....Nick screamed for Barney many times on the way to Oregon, so we went out of our way to buy it for the return trip. Still hasn't been watched.
31. Love truck stops. They are wonderful, and don't really get upset with kids, even in the middle of the night when they are jumping over the backs of tables.
32. Puke happens...
33. Eventually you just have to start using blankets as carseat pads.
34. When those get puked on, they just have to suffer with hard plastic.
35. Sometimes breaking the law and letting your kids lay down to sleep is necessary. As is letting the older one move the carseat to the front.
36. Moving the kids back as soon as they are snoring, not so easy.
37. Bass Pro Shops, is WAY better than Cabella's. However a short stop cost us $100 and almost 3hrs. Got alot for that hundred bucks though. Their prices are VERY reasonable!
38. If you accidentally lose the craft your kids made at Bass Pro Shops, Thank the Lord they forgot about it!!!
39. Getting home at 1am meant that Makenzie was so excited she didn't go to bed till about 3am.
40. Cleaning out the car from the trip is pratically the worst part of the trip. It stunk so bad from all the throw up, spilled drinks, and food.
41. Getting it all clean and smelling good is wonderful!!

Crazy couple days

Well, yesterday my belly got even bigger. We decided we better tell my mom since we will end up having to tell people in Oregon & Washington. She was pretty shocked, and didn't say a whole lot. We were at her work so she could say goodbye to the kids, so it was a kinda crazy visit to begin with.

We leave for Oregon tonight. It has been a rough day. Nick is acting like Mr. Attitude boy, and when he's not doing that, he's really clingy. Makes it hard for me to get anything done. I finally put him to bed, and then Makenzie got diarreah. It was so bad that she couldn't even made it to the bathroom. I had to keep following her around the house cleaning up the messes. So discusting!! She finally fell asleep around 4:45 and so I've been able to do dishes, sweep, mop, rotate laundry, and pick up a few toys. It feels good to get some stuff done. However, my back is in pain now, and my entire body is worn out. I have to get some more stuff done though.

I talked to the doctor yesterday and he said that my latest HCG count was 1800, and that I don't need to do anymore blood tests. As soon as we are back from Oregon he wants me to schedule an ultrasound for that week. I'm excited to go have that done, find out an exact due date, and make sure everything is going okay.

First belly pic

Well, I took this on 3/9. I was about 3wks, 3days pregnant. I can't believe how big I am getting already. I am part of a online group of women due in November, and it's great to know I'm not the only one. There are lots of other mom's due around the same time with their 3rd child that look the same as me. It's very helpful to see!

ugh...

My allergies are bothering me so bad. I really wish I could take something for them. Can't though since I'm pregnant.

I really have no idea what in the world to wear while in Oregon. I don't have a single shirt that I don't look pregnant in. Phil really wants me to hide it but I don't know if I'll be able to stay in sweatshirts the entire time we are there. We really don't want the kids to find out until we are out of the stage where miscarriage is more likely. That means we have to wait another 2 months! It's already hard enough to hide it from my mom. I keep having to put sweatshirts on any time we are around her. What happens when it is too warm??

Pregnant

Another reason I want to do this blog is to track my pregnancy. It's so hard to keep a secret, so I thought maybe writing about it would help. I plan to keep this blog a secret until I announce the pregnancy, and then everyone can be caught up on these events.

A couple weeks ago I thought I felt baby movement. I went to the doctor, and they did a blood test. My horomone level was a 6. Five is not pregnant, but there really shouldn't be a reason for it to be even a 1 without some sort of pregnancy. They told me to come back in a couple days to have it tested again. At that time they should be able to tell if it's a miscarriage or a pregnancy. Well, I went back 6 days ago and the result from that test was a 75. They think that for some reason my uteris was already making room for baby and that was the movement I was feeling. I went back today for a 3rd test, and will get the results on Monday. They say that if the numbers jump up well again then they won't have me come back till I am about 6-8wks along. Right now it looks like the due date is November 21st.

I am already showing because I've had 2 miscarriages in the last 7 months. The last one was in January so my body hasn't gone back down since then. I'm already having to wear maternity clothes. We leave for a trip to Oregon in 4 days. I have no idea how in the world I am going to hide this. I think I am going to just have to try to squeeze into my normal pants for the few days we are there. We really don't want to announce this to the world yet in case we miscarry again.

The beginning...

Well, as a stay at home mom there are alot of things that go on in my life. I try to write them down in my "mom journal" but don't always seem to get it done. I'm hoping that if I have it in an online journal to share with family then I will write down more.

For today's adventure, on top of having a sick child, and no sleep last night, we had a run in with some vick's vapo rub...After putting it on Makenzie last night I forgot to put it back where Nick can't reach it. Since I hadn't had much sleep; I fell asleep on the couch while Nick was watching a cartoon. I woke up 30min later to discover the entire house smelling like menthol. Nick thought it was his sculpting wax for his hair and had used the remainder of the jar in his hair. I knew that with this being oil based that it would be hard to get out. I tried to clump it up with some baking soda. That didn't work. Then I tried to use a lice comb to get it out. It worked pretty well, but he wouldn't sit still very long. I then went to Dawn. That worked well until I ran out. So on top of having a smelly house, oily kid & bathtub, we still have a greasy head of hair. Who knows how many washings it will take to get it all out.